1957 Map of Boulder

About this map

Boulder and its rugged western foothills are captured in this mid-century survey, revealing a landscape defined by the transition from urban growth to steep mining country. The eastern portion shows the city's expanding residential grid, anchored by the University of Colorado and numerous neighborhood institutions like Whittier Sch and the Mt St Gertrude Academy. Beyond the city limits, the terrain rises sharply into the Roosevelt National Forest, where a dense network of canyons—including Lefthand Canyon, Sunshine Canyon, and Boulder Canyon—serves as the backdrop for a legacy of hard-rock mining. Dozens of specific shafts such as the Little Bonnie Mine, Sun and Moon Mine, and Yellow Pine Mine are precisely plotted, marking the historic extraction efforts that once populated small mountain settlements like Sunshine and Crisman. The intricate system of water management is also visible, with Farmers Ditch and the Silver Lake Ditch threading through the foothills to the valley floor.